Tips for Students
Preventing Problems 102
Last month I gave you some tips to prevent problems from occurring (or making them easier to solve if they do happen).
Here are some more...
- Always ask for the person's name when you request information from an office on campus. Write it down along with the date and time of the conversation. This will prevent you having to ever say "they said" when trying to re-visit the issue.
- If you are unsure of something or think that there might be a problem, find out about it immediately. Don't wait to check it out. It may get worse.
- It pays to be assertive when asking for information or clarification but it never pays to get angry. If you aren't satisfied with an answer politely ask to speak to the person's supervisor.
- Before you sign anything, read it! Be sure that you can fulfill the terms of the agreement. Pay very close attention to financial aid agreements and housing contracts.
- Carefully read your syllabus in each course. Check for an attendance policy. If the policy is vague or there isn't one, ask your instructor about it. What happens if you miss a class, miss an exam, are late to class or turn in an assignment late? If part of your grade is based upon class participation, what does that mean? These may affect your grade significantly and you need to know what their expectations are.
- Be aware that e-mail is a form of written correspondence. Don't send anything by e-mail that you wouldn't want "on the record". If you make an agreement with an instructor through an e-mail exchange print it out and save it. Faculty members have many things to remember and they may not remember what they wrote in an e-mail to you.
- If you drop a course after the deadline to receive an automatic W and you think that you are going to get a "W" rather than a "WF", ALWAYS verify that with the instructor and document the conversation. Don't assume that the instructor is going to give you a "W".
Good luck.